ClickUp Relationships Tutorial (How & Why to Use This Feature)

If you're not using the ClickUp Relationships Feature, you're missing out on a powerful, informative connection!
Relationships and their counterpart, Rollups, are extremely helpful when it comes to connecting different tasks across your ClickUp Workspace.
Lately, we've been getting a ton of questions about the Relationships Feature inside ClickUp -- which isn't surprising! This feature in particular can be a little... confusing.
In this video, we're going over a quick slide deck to give you a foundational understanding of ClickUp Relationships. We'll talk about what they are, why you should use them, and how to easily build them inside ClickUp.
🚧 Want to use ClickUp Relationships to build your CRM in ClickUp? Check out this video: • Build a ClickUp CRM | ...
Here's what we'll cover:
00:00 - Introduction
01:02 - ClickUp Relationships feature, explained
03:38 - How to build a Relationship in ClickUp
03:50 - Not seeing the Relationship Feature? Turn on the ClickApp.
06:00 - Let's talk about Rollups
07:52 - Building out the Rollup Field in ClickUp
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[@federicopiragua]

WOW! The best clickup tutorial I've seen

[@PeterCianci]

Love the way you teach and your voice is a pleasure to listen to...makes a difference 😉

[@LaylaPomper]

Wow, thank you!

[@johnnyenemark]

Brilliant. I have converted from Monday to ClickUp and just could not get my head around the relationship and rollup feature. You explained it perfectly. Thank you.

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Johnny! I'm happy that this helped!

[@GoodMorningButch]

Your intricate knowledge of that tool never ceases to amaze me

[@LaylaPomper]

Thank you! Happy to help! 😁

[@GordonJohansen]

This is another one of those videos that is going to get saved as it bears repeated watching. I think I can see the use in our store to define things but will have to mull it over (or perhaps bring it up in a ProcessDriven mastermind). It's definitely getting saved in my Edge "Collections".

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Gordon! Just getting caught up with comments🙈 So glad this is helpful - absolutely bring it up in the Mastermind if you haven't already! - Karleigh at ProcessDriven

[@zahraahmad7437]

Thanks for the video! I would love to know how to automate the relationship between different tasks based on a custom field value, thanks in advance!

[@LaylaPomper]

Great suggestion but not currently doable!

[@raechiang5614]

Hi Layla! Thanks for you videos. It's absolutely helpful for a clickup newbie like me. I am wondering if I have to manually add task into created relationship, or if the tasks can be added automatically if I build a relationship with the list.

[@LaylaPomper]

Thanks for commenting! As of now, you will have to add tasks manually to the created relationship.

[@peterryan826]

You deserve more VIEWS.... Terrific videos.

[@LaylaPomper]

You're so kind! Thank you so much!

[@peterryan826]

@@LaylaPomper Welcome, Do you know coding? Have you made videos on Coding? Or some other high level technology?

[@dorimolozanov1471]

I would love to see a video explaining the value of using Custom Relationships between two lists v. the standard (?) non-Custom relationships that allow you to link any two tasks together.

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Dori! Thanks for the idea! I'll add it to our Content Idea List now :)

[@ederlipicinatto]

Thanks for the tips!! I tried to find where to set a relationship field as required, but I couldn't find. I wonder if there is such functionality.

[@LaylaPomper]

Unfortunately, there’s no way to require it at this point. 😔

[@angeloformoso1151]

Hi Layla, thanks for your awesome videos! Is there a way to link via Relationship a task (ex. Task A) to a whole list (List A - with different set of tasks and subtasks)? I want to automatically view the updates on List A by just viewing Task A.

[@LaylaPomper]

Not at this time, no. 🙁

[@taylor.benterud]

Love this video. Why both seperating the 2 lists? why not just have a custom field in the team directory that shows "Role"? thanks!!

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Taylor! We use two different Lists because, in ClickUp, making relationships between a specific list is easier to load and use! ClickUp's "specific list" relationships don't allow you to link to the *same* List, either. Hence, two Lists!

[@frediricaurte]

Hey very nice video..., i'm trying to import 4 relationed tables to clickup, this database is about 400 registers but i would have to do the relation of each one of them? i would like to know if there is the option of upload excel sheets as tables to clickup's lists and get the relationships automaticly. thank you

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Freddy! I'm glad this was helpful! This would be an excellent question to ask inside of the ProcessDriven Collective, our free Facebook group! There are people from all over the world in there sharing their experiences and giving advice and tutorials. I think you'll really enjoy it! Here's the link to jump in: processdriven.co/group

[@i_automatethings4457]

Long time fan and watched a lot of your videos. I have come across this video to see if I can utilize relationships and roll ups to create my own fully managed office and field management tool for my company. Based on this video this is similar to relationships in notion when you build a database and then in other tasks you can refer to the relationship data in the database you have created. For example if I create a work order/task for a field technician, I would make a relationship referring to a customer contact list, and roll ups for additional data like phone number and email? I can also say the name for inventoried products that should be installed?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey! Just getting caught up on comments🙈 Hi, there! That's exactly right! Relationships in ClickUp give you the ability to link tasks together. Once linked you can reference the "relationship" from either task or List view. So you can create the Relationship from your Work order List to the Customer Contact List. Then you'll be able to connect the work order with the client. Show rollups so your technician can easily see a contact number and email address!

[@ericahorowitz5062]

Thanks for the video, Layla! So does it make more sense to just "add to list" vs. using relationship feature when you are in fact just trying to add someone's name (for example) to another list (and have that be a live task that changes everywhere) INSTEAD OF needing to link two different tasks together (which is where relationships are more helpful)? If you need me to rephrase the Q let me know. :) xx

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey! Just getting caught up on comments🙈 In general, yes!

[@pciadvisors]

Hi Layla! Great video. I tried creating a workspace and used the "Custom Relationships" and "Roll-ups" and they looked great. However, I tried to create a template of the workspace and those two fields did not come across in the template? Is there a step I missed or is that a known issue? Thank you!

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Lisa! Just getting caught up with comments 🙈 I reached out to my community coaches in case you still need support and this is what they had to say: Templates do not support Relationships yet (major bummer). It's being developed now, though! Send them to the Feature Request page (clickup.canny.io/feature-requests/p/template-should-carry-relationship) if you want to vote and add comments. I hope this helps! - Karleigh at ProcessDriven

[@rebekahrhodes9512]

can you sort/filter by the custom fields featured in the roll up?

[@LaylaPomper]

Not currently, but hopefully in the future! Here is a quick help doc help.clickup.com/hc/en-us/articles/12665650881943-Search-sort-and-filter-tasks-by-Custom-Fields#:~:text=You%20can%20sort%20tasks%20by,is%20displayed%20as%20a%20column.

[@ruizito8480]

Hello Layla. Thank you for this great video. I tried to add a custom relationship field to a form, but didn't find the way to do it. Do you know if this is something who can be achieved with Clickup? The idea was to add a customer name and a product (from 2 individual lists/tasks) to an order form. Thank you.

[@LaylaPomper]

Currently, Relationships are not supported in Form View, unfortunately!

[@ruizito8480]

@@LaylaPomper Thank you for your reply. All the best!

[@Chavero81]

Great content!!! xD One question for the experts! How can I show a relationship field (that I have in the backlog) in the current sprint? When I select a sprint in the backlog for a task, The sprint shows the task but not the relationship field :(

[@LaylaPomper]

Great question! When you select a sprint in the backlog for a task, is the task being moved or duplicated? If so, currently ClickUp does not keep Relationships when a task is templated or copied. This means you'll have to manually add the Relationship again. Unfortunately, this is a highly voted-for feature request on ClickUp's Canny page. I'll link it here if you'd like to check it: clickup.canny.io/feature-requests/p/relationships-allow-list-to-list-relationships-to-be-maintained-when-a-task-is-d

[@sionlanini2375]

Thanks for the video. Relationships seem so limited to me without the ability to group/sort by those fields. Am I missing something and/or is there a workaround? Haven't had much luck with ClickUp support...

[@JohnGrattanSEO]

Agreed, I've had to put CU on hold until they fully build out relationships. Without them there are too many inefficiencies

[@LaylaPomper]

You’re correct! There is no support for: - Group By - Sort By - Reporting (for Dashboards) - Automations - Templates - Bulk Changes (Multiselect) …and way too much more!

[@50shadesofskittles9]

I agree with you guys and still feel ClickUp is an amazing tool. I look forward to more feature implementations. 😊

[@MrBlue-hz4em]

Hey Layla, Thank you for this video and the great explanation of how we could use these features. 🤩🤩🤩 ❓ I got some questions for you: If you use that in a CRM, then what could be a good use case for the example you just showed? What data would be in that role of eg. CEO? Could these be tasks to describe an avatar in that role?? Many thanks in advance! Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪😁

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Mr. Blue! These are great questions! I found a video that may answer them for you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKXXlXuDdqikga8 Once you've had a chance to watch, can you please let me know if it helped? Thanks! - Karleigh at ProcessDriven

[@SzSzilard]

Wow, must have been tough to keep this much eye contact :)

[@LaylaPomper]

Haha I'm used to it :)

[@susanpearson-creativefibro]

I was interested to see this is pretty much identical to Notion which I also use for things that aren’t tasks or projects.

[@LaylaPomper]

Very true! It's quite similar.

[@bdvd]

Can this be used in between different lists? Thanks for the video!!

[@LaylaPomper]

Yes you can!

[@bdvd]

@@LaylaPomper Thanks! I created a list with our “inventory” for products, and I was hoping to schedule a check sort of system from other lists. Trying to figure out the best way to do that (relationships, dependencies, something else? 😁

[@jillianmcgovern7639]

Question: LINKING FEATURE AND HOW IT RELATES TO EACH TEAM’S PROJECT LIST AND SETUP/STATUSES AND CUSTOM FIELDS. ARE THEY REQUIRED TO MIRROR EACH OTHER? IS THERE EVER A SCENARIO WHERE THIS WOULDN’T WORK?

[@LaylaPomper]

That's a great question! I would suggest keep testing and verify that it's working for you.

[@jillianmcgovern7639]

Is there anything you suggest that has worked for you or any others? @@LaylaPomper

[@user-nnrbxoc]

I feel cold watching this. Sweater inside and shooting almost inside the fireplace. Great content (as usual)

[@LaylaPomper]

🤣🤣🤣

[@edenz22]

Hi, thank you very much for the tutorial. I transferred everything according to your instructions. One of the things I encounter is the fact that when you export a dashboard or the board, the connections do not appear. This is quite a big problem because I created 3 connections: a task, a client and a contact person. Each task has a client that is linked to the contacts and time tracked for each task. When I export to Excel, I only see the name of the task without the contact. I also wrote to ClickUp about the problem and they still haven't gotten back to me on the matter. Do you have a tip on how I can export the data this way? Love watching your videos, very helpful

[@LaylaPomper]

You're correct. Related content when exported will just show the Task ID and not the actual content, in most cases. 😢 The solution I would look at would be to use a third party tool, like Make.com, to pull the data AND swap out the Task IDs with useful information. Alternatively, shake up your structure to not rely on relationships...though I expect that's not a great solution!

[@luisfernandodimerdasilva829]

Is a way to filter this relationships values, like i used one name "client" and i want to filter all task with Client X?

[@LaylaPomper]

There is not...yet. Hopefully someday soon!

[@kostaschatzoudis7728]

Any idea why the relationship and rollup fields show up blank on android app (they work fine on PC)? Thanks for all the resources you provide us with!

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Kostas! This was, for a time, a bug on the mobile versions. I believe it's been since resolved, but don't quote me! :)

[@voxdigitalmarketing9002]

Relationship Question: Is it possible to add a relationship from one record to multiple tasks at once? I wanted to create a relationship between a project and the tasks related to that project? I know I can do it task by task, just wanted to avoid that. I thought I would get away with selecting all tasks and creating the relationship to the first one selected but that didnt work 🙁

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey! Just getting caught up on comments🙈 Great question! It's not possible to link relationships from one task to multiple tasks at once. But, you could use Dependencies to "link" the tasks. So use the bulk action toolbar to select all of the tasks related to the project and find "Add Dependency." Then in the "Blocking" section, find the Project task. This will show the Project task in the Dependencies field in the task view.

[@jeffbrown8821]

I have an existing list which has columns for first name, last name, email address, and others. I need to create another list that has relationship columns to those first three columns I mentioned. I’d like to be able to click the last name column for instance and type a persons last name. Then I can click on the correct name and have it populate the other relevant columns (first, last, email, etc.). The kicker is, I also need to be able to use automations to send an email pulling the task title, first name, last name, and email from the list and adding it to the email. Thoughts?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Jeff! Just getting caught up on comments🙈 Great question! You can absolutely create relationships with both Lists. The relationship is a task connecting with a task. This means you'll need some identifying information to select the right person. For example, the task name would have to be a last name or email. Then you can use Rollups to show additional information like the last and first names. The tricky part is firing the automation with the relationship trigger. ClickUp does not recognize the email in the relationship. It only recognizes an email in an email field. So, you would have create the automation in the first List that has the actual email field. I hope this helps!

[@jeffbrown8821]

@@LaylaPomper Thank you so much for the reply! I ended up making the relationship and then I just copy and paste the email address to an email field. Works but it’s not optimal. Hopefully ClickUp will be able to use relationship fields for automations in the future.

[@js.8688]

Thank you for this Video, its really helpful! But I just tried it with the relationships I already use. With one I could do the Rollup showing a Custom field. I tried it with two other relationships and I can't choose a custom field to be shown, only things like status, due date, etc. I tried adding the custom field to the list the task is in but it does not work :/

[@LaylaPomper]

When you create the relationship, set it to relate to a specific list instead of tasks anywhere. 😉 That’ll fix it!

[@js.8688]

@@LaylaPomper It's working now, thank you!

[@LaylaPomper]

@@js.8688 wahoo! Glad to hear it!

[@Nubia567]

I wonder if you can relate tasks from two separate folders or spaces? Is that even advisable?

[@LaylaPomper]

Without any additional context I would say it is doable. You can create that relationship between tasks within folders, lists, or spaces.

[@maxdoes_]

Relationship fields are weird. I'm finding that if I have a task in a specific list, and it has relationship fields that connect it with other tasks, those relationships go away if I move the task to another list-even if that list has the same relationship field! Am I doing something wrong?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Max! Just getting caught up on comments🙈 Great observation! You're not doing anything wrong. When you select "task in a specific List," you create the relationship for all tasks in that one List. So if the task is moved out of that List, the task is no longer a part of the relationship. To keep the relationship, regardless of where you move the task, choose "any task from your Workspace" when moving the task you'll have the option to bring over the Relationship fields.

[@SKYB-Administraties]

We like to get the information from two task with a relation into integromat, is this possible and how? For we do not get this done

[@LaylaPomper]

Is it not readily available. I’ve seen some people make a workaround using a custom web hook, but haven’t tried it myself!

[@SKYB-Administraties]

@@LaylaPomper thanks for the reply. We want to get our companies (list1) and contacts (list2) in 1 contract document. Not a strange thing to want, but no sollution found yet. So if anybody knows how.... please give us your workarround

[@serhiih.4724]

As for me - the problem is that ClickUp not gives ability change Rollups right away. They are all read only, basically . And also you can’t filter by roll up fields. And also use automations based on roll up fields data. Waiting this sooooo much !

[@serhiih.4724]

Basically in perfect world roll up should replicate the custom field from another list ( from relationship we attach ) with full functionality like it would be actual list, edit, etc

[@LaylaPomper]

Awh yes! That would be a great addition.

[@serhiih.4724]

@@LaylaPomper If you have some connection with them, maybe drop this as an idea, this would turn it into semi CRM for real. And relations would became 3.0 this way. Big step, important step.

[@50shadesofskittles9]

I have the feature turned on but do not see a way to add one. I am on the cheaper plan. I wonder if i need to pay more to access it?

[@LaylaPomper]

So you're saying: 1 - The ClickApp for "Relationships" is turned on. 2 - You're going to "Add a New" column and there's no option to add a Relationship? 🤔If I'm understanding you correclty, that's quite odd! Being on a cheaper paid plan shouldn't impact this...

[@50shadesofskittles9]

@@LaylaPomper good to know. I'll give it another try. By any chance, do you have a discord server?

[@rachelshieldsebersole6094]

How do I rename the different sides of the relationship?

[@LaylaPomper]

If you go inside Tasks one either side of the relationship, there's a "..." where you can rename the relationship. :) You can also rename the Relationship Column by clicking on the column header, too, if that's easier.

[@user-fh6kh5ke9h]

I'm only halfway through and already racing ahead with the possibilities... bye bye Google Sheet databases ;-D

[@user-fh6kh5ke9h]

Oh they appear a little broken in 3.0, and no way to filter on the relationship fields 😞 anyway 😢

[@marcopaladin580]

PLEASE support this in the API properly too (filtering...)

[@LaylaPomper]

Good suggestion! Definitely upvote it on ClickUp's Canny where they keep their feature requests. Here's the link: clickup.canny.io/feature-requests/p/using-relationships-with-the-api

[@lifesfluff]

I hope my roommates don't think i have issues with "relationships"

[@LaylaPomper]

Thanks so much for commenting, it means a lot!

[@ashishjain871]

The example used is not that useful. Could have used a more realistic concrete example?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey! Just getting caught up with comments 🙈 Noted! Thanks for the feedback :)